New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on Wednesday expressed sadness over the death of a patient during his
visit to PGIMER hospital at Chandigarh and instructed
authorities to be "more sensitive" while imposing restrictions
for reasons of security.
In a letter to the wife of the deceased 32-year-old
kidney patient, he said, "I am writing to you to express my
profound sense of sadness at the death of your husband Shri
Sumit Verma yesterday".
Observing that the patient could not get access to the
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in
time because of the restrictions in place for his visit, he
said "this is something I deeply regret.
"I have issued instructions so that in future
authorities are more sensitive to the concerns of the common
man while imposing such restrictions for reasons of security,"
the Prime Minister said.
Verma died during Singh's visit to PGIMER yesterday
with his family saying he was denied timely treatment after
securitymen allegedly kept diverting the vehicle carrying him.
The family had claimed that security personnel,
including those from Chandigarh Police, deployed at the
medical institute, did not allow their vehicle to proceed to
the hospital's emergency section and kept diverting them from
one place to another for about two hours.
A senior PGIMER official had said that the patient was
"brought dead" to the emergency wing.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009, 16:32